Equitable Ann Arbor Land Trust

An advocate for preserving park land, equitable housing, transit, and placemaking in Ann Arbor

if you work in Ann Arbor, you should be able to live in Ann Arbor.
— Peter Allen, EA2 President and Co-Founder

Creating the New Age of Ann Arbor

EA2 envisions an Ann Arbor with a “Central Park” centering around an accessible, world-class riverfront along the Huron River, full of the best that nature has to offer. A direct connection to the vibrant town center and University would allow everyone who works in Ann Arbor to live in Ann Arbor. To achieve this, we must start by “doing the river right”. This means to preserve and enhance the existing natural features of the river, its creeksheds, and park land. Then, to better connect it through a network of walkable and bike-able pathways with improved public transit options. With the river as the focal point, we then aspire to create public-private partnerships offering exceptional, mixed-use placemaking with mixed-income housing for families and workers walkable to jobs and the heart of town.

Equitable Ann Arbor Land Trust Principles

Preserve and enhance Ann Arbor’s natural features

Preservation

Improved walking, biking, and transit options

Connection

For-sale housing so that anyone who works in Ann Arbor can live in Ann Arbor

Affordable Ownership

Work with the City, University, and community for the betterment of Ann Arbor

Collaboration

Create neighborhoods with the best nature has to offer alongside a vibrant town center

Community

Founded in 2019, the Equitable Ann Arbor Land Trust (EA2) serves as an advocate for the Ann Arbor community through catalyzing visionary plans for preserving, protecting, & enhancing park land, equitable housing, creative placemaking, and sustainable, mixed-use development.

Led by Peter Allen, a long time real estate developer in Ann Arbor, lecturer at Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Ross School of Business, and Michigan graduate, and real estate developer Sarah Lorenz, EA2s expertise spans from real estate to sustainability, perfectly positioning us as an intermediary and broker for all future development in Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor’s population continues to grow as the city faces a crisis of increasingly unaffordable housing, which forces many workers to live outside the city and commute daily. EA2 offers solutions to address these housing and transit problems, all while keeping sustainability and the natural features of Ann Arbor top-of-mind.